Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Disney movie "Newsies."

Heya, fellow-newsiers (Is that a word? It should be) How's it rollin'?

First of all, thanks to all the people who've been reading and reviewing. Second, a few people have told me that the last chapter was a bit confusing because it jumped all around, but I think this chapter will explain everything you need to know. If you still don't get what's going on, send me a message or a review and I'd be more than happy to explain it :)

--START--

I tried to scream but the hand was still clasped tightly over my mouth. A strong grip held onto me as I attempted to squirm out of their grasp. I immediately stopped moving when I looked up and saw a familiar face. His innocent eyes were wide, warning me to stay quiet.

Mush silently slid to his knees, bringing me to the ground with him. The two of us kneeled on the cobblestone, ducking down so that the crates kept us hidden from view. He took his hand off my mouth and his gaze wandered down to my bloody fist.

He knew better than to make a sound, but his eyes looked into mine with sympathy. He mouthed the words, "Are you okay?" I nodded.

We heard footsteps approaching. The echoing sound off the walls told us that they were entering the alleyway. "Where da hell did she go!?" one of them asked. Their shadows reflected on the wall behind us, showing us there were two of them. "I dunno, but if we better find 'er before she finds da cops..."

I closed my eyes tight. Mush and I held our breaths, barely even breathing. A nearby crate was kicked over, but it thankfully it was far enough away that we were still hidden. "She ain't in heah." He muttered. They both headed out into the street again.

We waited in silence for a few minutes, until we were sure they weren't coming back. Mush stood up. "C'mon... we better get outta heah." He whispered, starting to walk away. "Wait..." I said. "We can't go back yet. We gotta make sure Les is alright..."

Mush shook his head. "Les is fine. He was da one who told me you was in trouble in da foist place. I left him at Tibby's wit da guys and den came heah..." He replied. I stared at him for a few seconds, not able to contain my smile. "Thanks..." I muttered. He shrugged and nervously wrung the bottom of his shirt with his hands. "Don't mention it..." He said.

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We ran like hell and entered Tibby's completely out of breath. Along with some other faces I didn't know yet, Race looked up from the table. "Dere ya guys are! Either of ya hoit?" He asked. His eyes wandered down to my fist. I quickly hid it behind my back, not wanting to make a big deal of it. "Nah, it's nuttin'. But how'd you know...?" I replied, referring to the incident that had just gone on in the alleyway.

"Les filled us in a few minutes ago. We'se all been sittin' heah freakin' out, wonderin' if Mush found ya a'right." Race told us. Les stood up from one of the tables and came over. Grinning, he stood in front of me and looked up at me. "Your name's Shamrock, right?" I nodded and smiled back. "That was so cool back there, what ya did... I saw ya punch that guy right in da face!" Les replied.

I laughed and ruffled his hair, messing up his hat in the process. "I dunno how cool it woulda' been if Mush didn't come 'nd help me..." I replied, looking over at Mush. His cheeks turned a dark color as all attention was turned to him. He quickly sat down next to Racetrack and buried his face in a menu.

Race laughed and smacked Mush on the back. Then he motioned for me to sit in the booth seat across from him. I slid in next to a boy with an eye-patch. He smiled and gave me a small wave.

"So Shamrock, how'd ya do for ya foist day?" Racetrack asked. I shrugged. "Not bad... I sold 'bout 25 of 30. I didn't think I'd like peddlin' papes, but it ain't half bad..." I replied.

"Dat mean you'se gonna stick 'round?" He asked. I thought about it. Living in the lodging house was a hell of a lot better than living on the streets. I didn't mind selling papers for a living. Plus the guys seemed really nice, and I could learn to be really good friends with them.

"I usually don't stick 'round in one place too long... but shoah, why not. Guess I got nuttin' to lose, right?" I said. "Nuttin' cept your money." The guy with the eye patch said. "Soon enough you'll just be anudda person for Race to beat in pokah." He said, grinning. I looked over at him and returned the smile. "I'm Kid Blink, by da way. Me friends call me Blink. Sometimes it's Kid. Either one, I guess." He said, shrugging. "Guess since you'se one of us now, ya should meet da rest of da gang." He continued.

He turned around to look over the back of the seat. Now he was facing the huge group of newsies that practically filled the small restaurant. "A'right... Let's see..." He chose a group in the back to start with and jumped from table to table, naming off the guys.

"Dat's Skittery, over dere. To his right is Specs, and to his left is Bumlets. Across from him is Crutchy, den Boots- ya already met him I think- sittin' wit him is Jake. At da table behind 'em is Snoddy, Swifty, Itey, and Snipeshooter... Next table is Dutchy wit David 'nd Les... 'course ya know him since ya saved his ass earlier this evenin'... Last is Pie eater 'nd Snitch, 'nd dat's everyone." Blink said, barely taking a breath in between sentences.

My mind swarmed with names. "I think I got 'bout three of 'em down..." I muttered. Blink laughed. "You'll get 'em eventually, jus' give it a few days." He said. Someone was missing. I noticed that Jack wasn't anywhere in the restaurant. He said he would be back hours ago...

"Hey, ya guys seen Cowboy?" I asked. The three of them shook their heads. "Nah... not since he bought his papes dis mornin'." Race replied.

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When we got back to the lodging house, it was around 10:00. David and Les left to go home and the rest of the newsies hung out in the lobby. Once everyone got tired of betting their profits in card games, they just sat around and talked.

I sat on the couch next to Racetrack but he was sidetracked by a game of solitaire, so he didn't talk much. I started up a conversation with Bumlets, Dutchy, and Blink. Somehow, we got into the topic of Spot Conlon.

I'd never met him before but I sure as hell heard of him. The guys talked about him all the time. They didn't always say positive things about him, but it seemed like he was pretty well respected nonetheless.

Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, we heard the door open and a policeman stepped in. The guys and I exchanged nervous glances, but continued to talk like nothing was wrong. When the bulls were forced to acknowledge the newsies, it was never a good thing.

He walked over to the big wooden desk Kloppman was sitting behind. "Excuse me, sir... Are you the caretaker of this facility?" The cop asked. He nodded, standing up. "Yes I am. Can I help ya wit somethin'?" Kloppman asked.

"I'm looking for two children. A boy and a girl, both troubled adolescents. They escaped from the refuge a few days ago, and we have reason to believe they'll be found together since they shared a cell. Have they stopped by here by any chance?" The cop asked. I looked closer at him and recognized him as the officer at the refuge who brought me to my cell.

Oh crap... I thought. A nervous feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach. "Shamrock... Cheese it!" Blink whispered in my ear. "Where am I supposed to go?! If I run upstairs he'll see me, 'nd he's standin' right by the door..." I whispered back. I had no clue what to do.

Kloppman tried to look surprised, but he knew perfectly well who the cop was talking about. "Do ya have any more information on dem? It's hard to tell... So many kids come through heah every day..." He said, trying to buy time. "The boy's name is Jack Kelly. He's escaped multiple times, and we have records of him staying in this lodging house before. As of the moment we don't have any information about the girl." The cop replied.

"Hmm... Jack Kelly... Oh yes, tall, brown hair? Haven't seen him in a few months, maybe even half a year." He lied. "As of da goil, we don't get many 'round heah..." Kloppman replied.

"So you won't mind if I take a take a quick look around, then? Make sure they're not around here?" The cop asked, starting to turn towards the newsies. "No!" Kloppman said, almost too quickly. The officer turned back around and gave him a strange look. "No... A'course I don't mind... But I assure ya, ya won't find anythin'. I keep a strict watch on who comes in 'nd out of heah." He said.

All the newsies' eyes wandered to me. "Shamrock, get behind us!" Race whispered, pushing me to the back of the crowd. They all stood in a group in front of me, defending me from the cop's view. He walked over to us, looking closely at each of the boys' faces. The air in the lodging house became uneasy and heavy.

Mush quickly took off his newsboy cap and handed it to me. "Quick, hide your hair!" He whispered. I collected all my hair and stuffed it under the hat, placing it on my head. The officer was getting closer and closer to me. Mush gave me a small nod to tell me it looked alright and turned to face forward.

The cop pushed in between Pie Eater and Skittery, approaching me. I hoped to god that a combination of my baggy boys' clothes and my hair beneath the hat made him believe I was a guy. He looked at me questioningly for a while, holding his gaze on me like he suspected something. I stared right back at him, trying to give off the impression that I had nothing to be scared of.

After what seemed like forever he finally moved on to inspect Mush, who was standing next to me. The timing couldn't have been any more horrible. At that exact second, Jack walked through the lodging house door.

His right eye was badly bruised. A long scratch went across his face, stretching from his eyebrow the corner of to his mouth. When he saw the cop, a hint of panic could be seen in his eye, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

The cop heard him come in and turned around. "Who are you?" he ordered, forgetting about the rest of us. Jack's answer came calmly and collectively. "Who, me? Will Brendson." The officer watched him intently to see if he was lying, but Jack kept eye-contact and never faltered.

"Will, you said your name was? Why are you so bruised up? Have you been starting trouble around here?" He asked. Jack shrugged. "No...I got mugged on da way back from sellin'." His answer came so steadily that I almost believed him.

The rest of us decided to follow his lead just to play it safe, although Jack looked like he had this situation pretty well handled by himself. "Again, Will!? Dis is da second time dis month... I keep tellin' ya not to sell alone anymore!" Itey said, taking a step towards him.

All the newsies agreed, and Race turned to the officer. "Wit all due respect, officer... Maybe ya should be patrollin' da streets more instead of interrogatin' innocent newsies. Dat way, stuff like dis wouldn't happen so often." Racetrack said, motioning to Jack. He smirked and the rest of us had to hide our snickering.

Taking one last look around the room, he decided he was searching in the wrong place. "Be sure to notify us if you see either of them." The cop told Kloppman. "Of course." He replied, shutting the door behind the officer as he left.

The rest of us waited a few moments before we stopped holding our breaths. Finally, when we were sure he was gone, we sighed and began talking again. "Dat was a close one..." Boots said. "Shamrock, I was shoah he recognized ya..." Snoddy told me.

"Nice shinah, Cowboy. Dat bruise just saved ya ass, because you'se barely even look like yaself all blooded up like dat." Race said. "Did ya really get jumped, Jack?" Specs asked. Cowboy shook his head. "Nah... Dere was a territory fight between Brooklyn 'nd Queens today. Spot aksed me for help, 'nd it jus' got a little outta hand." He explained.

"A'right, boys! 'nd uh... goil. I think you'se had enough excitement for one day. Let's go, off to bed." Kloppman ordered. Everyone groaned and slowly climbed up the stairs.

I was behind Mush as we walked to the bunk room. I lightly tapped him on the shoulder. Taking off his hat, my hair fell down onto my shoulders again. "Thanks..." I said, handing it back to him. He smiled timidly back at me, taking his hat. "It's no problem." He said.

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I stared up at the unoccupied mattress above me, practically memorizing every crack in the wooden bunk. I had been listening to the guys' snoring for over a few hours by that point, but no matter how hard I tried sleep wouldn't come to me.

I wasn't even the least bit tired. My eyes were wide open, taking in the darkness of the room. I assumed couldn't sleep since I was still a little jumpy from the events of that day.

Deciding I had to clear my mind, I rolled over and sat on the edge of my bed. Fishing through the drawer of my bedside table, I felt around for my journal and took it out. I hadn't written since I arrived at the lodging house. It was about time I emptied my thoughts.

I grabbed a pen and left the bunkroom, being as quiet as possible. I needed light and I didn't want to disturb the boys. Going out into the hallway, I closed the door behind me. It wasn't much of a hallway, really. There was about 5 feet of empty floor space between the staircase and the bunk room door.

Trying to find the light, I felt around above my head. My hand closed on a metal chain hanging from the ceiling, and I pulled gently on it. It clicked and the small area was filled with a really dim glow. The light bulb wasn't bright at all, but it would have to work.

I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Positioning my journal on my knees for support, I began to scribble things down.

The bunk room door creaked open and I looked up from my writing. Mush was standing in the doorway, looking at me. "Uh... you okay, Shamrock?" he whispered. "Yeah, just couldn't sleep." I replied, smiling. He nodded slowly and was quiet for a few seconds. "Yeah, same wit me...Anythin' upsettin' ya?" He asked.

"Nah. Jus' not tired." I told him. "Oh... Okay. Well, sorry for botherin' ya." He said, turning back into the bunk room. "It's a'right. I'm jus' writing...You ain't botherin' me, Mush." I replied. "C'mere, come sit wit me. Might as well have some company since we both can't sleep, right?" I scooted over so he had room to sit against the wall. I was unsure if he'd accept my offer because of his shyness around girls, but I hoped he would.

A shy smile spread across his face. "Yeah, guess so..." He muttered, sitting next to me. I could tell he was nervous by the way he wrung his hands. "So what're you writin'?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

I handed him my journal, open to the page I was writing on. He slowly took it, studying the symbols written clearly on the paper. "What is this...?" He whispered. "It's Gaelic..." I replied, also keeping my voice down. "It's the first language I learned, so it's faster for me to write wit."

"Woah...What does dat word mean?" He asked, pointing to a group of letters at the bottom of the page. I leaned over to see what he was pointing at. "Oh, dat's me real name in Gaelic. It means 'dark haired.'" Mush shot me a confused look, so I explained. "Out of my whole family I was the only one born wit dark hair, so dat's what me mudda named me." I replied. Although my skin was pale with light freckles, my hair was almost black in color. It fell in loose waves down to the middle of my back.

"Where'd ya learn how to write in Gaelic?" He asked, still looking down at the journal. "In Ireland... I used to go to school dere when I was young." I told him. "Really?" He said. "I mean, I knew you was Irish, but I didn't know ya lived dere..."

I nodded. "Yeah, I was an immigrant. Came heah when I was 'bout 8 years old. I got separated from da rest of my family, though, so I'se been alone ever since."

He suddenly looked up from the journal, staring at me with his mouth slightly open. "What?" I asked, confused. "Shamrock... What did ya say your real name was?" He asked. "I didn't... but it's Keira." I replied.

His eyes narrowed as they searched my face. I raised an eyebrow at him but stayed quiet, wondering what was going through his mind. "Stay heah... I'll be right back." Mush said, standing up. He disappeared into the bunk room and came out again in about a minute, holding something in his hand.

He sat down next to me again, but this time closer. "I think... dis is yours." He said, handing me something. It was a doll, made out of thin fabric. Dirty and torn, it was wearing a light blue dress. I recognized it almost instantly.

"My old doll..." I muttered, staring at it amazed. "But how did you...? Oh my god..." I whispered as it all clicked in my mind. "This was the lodging house I came to, and I was found on the steps in the snow... and Kloppman told me that..." My voice faded out as I muttered, talking more to myself than to Mush.

I looked up into Mush's eyes, and I understood why they had seemed so familiar. "You and the guys found me and brought me in heah." I said as a smile crept onto my face. He nodded quickly.

I returned my gaze to the doll again. "Why did ya keep this so long? It's gotta have been at least 7 years since I left it heah..." I said. I didn't have to look up to tell that Mush was blushing. "I dunno... I guess I kept it jus' incase ya came back." He said. "We woke up 'nd you was gone, so we had no idea where ya went."

Nolan. The thought of him brought back memories that left me with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. "I went to find my brudda'..." I said slowly, looking to the floor.

Mush saw the look on my face and moved a little closer to me. "Shamrock... I didn't mean to bring up anythin' dat would upset ya..." He said, lightly touching my arm with his hand. I sniffled back the tears and tried to cover it with a smile, looking up at him. "Nah, it's not your fault."

It became silent between the two of us for a few minutes. "I looked all over New York City for him, but I never found him. I guess dey sent him back to Ireland as soon as he got off da boat, thinkin' dat he was sick."

"I'm real sorry, Shamrock." Mush said, looking down at the floor. I cleared my throat and scolded myself to forget the bad memories. "Don't be... It's okay." I replied, shaking my head.

I stole a glance at Mush. Now that I thought about it, I remembered he was shy when I first met him, too. He was 9 years old back then. He had definitely grown up since then, but I couldn't believe I didn't recognize him. His face looked similar, and his eyes didn't change one bit. He definitely got really cute over the past few years...

"You know what dis means?" I said. He looked up at me, making me realize how close our faces were to each other. "What?" he asked curiously. "It means that between tonight in da alley and back den in the snow, you saved me life twice. I think I owe ya a thanks." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

We sat there, just staring at each other for a few seconds. A newsie in the bunk room cleared his throat loudly in his sleep, bringing me back to reality. "We should, uh... get some sleep. I'm startin' to get kind of tired." I said, getting up from the floor.

Mush nodded and blushed, looking away. "Yeah..." he said, standing up. He handed me back my journal and we both went into the bunk room.

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So good? bad? A little confusing? Please send me your comments :D

I'm going to try and get another out today if I get the chance. Thanks for reading.